UGEARSMechanical Models 3-D Wooden Puzzle - Treasure Box w/Key (Secret Hidden Puzzle) Idea Wood Puzzles for Adult

I really love making things with my hands so I've actually made this model twice. It's not easy to build but not super difficult. I'd rate the building difficulty at a 6 where 10 is the most difficulty.You will need to carefully removing some of the pre-cut pieces because they can break. Also, plan on using the small piece of the sandpaper paper that comes with the kit. Some pieces will fit better with a very light sanding. Rule of thumb with this kit is not to force anything that does not want to join easily. A little bit of sanding is a good idea on tight pieces and also plan to use a little bit of glue for the brackets that go on the underside of the lid. You'll see the reason for this when you go to add the top rings of the lid. The small "clips" used to hold the lid assembly together tend to push down on the pins coming up from the bottom of the lid and cause the lid assembly to loosen. Having glued those brackets to the underside of the lid with a little white school room glue or wood glue helps to stabilize the whole lid. One other pointer: On my second model, I used no wax on the gears. I found it was a nuisance to apply and it really had no effect on the operation of the gears. I omitted it on the second model and have had no trouble getting the gears to operate when opening and closing the box.

Happy with my purchase

I got one of these for myself since I like trick boxes, assembling things such as puzzles or models, and the "steampunk" look. Took me maybe 4-5 total hours to assemble, and I had to rebuild some assemblies more than once because I wasn't paying attention to directional arrows. The wood is fairly strong, not super soft like balsa, and very nicely laser cut. I work for a manufacturing company that uses industrial laser cutters so I appreciated how precisely and densely the pieces were put together on the wood sheets to avoid waste (a process called "nesting" in case anyone who might be reading this cares). Most pieces came out cleanly and I didn't need to do much sanding, but I did have to use a utility knife quite a bit to help break the supports. I did break one piece very early in the assembly, but that happened when I was trying to remove a wooden pin. Thankfully the piece wasn't a gear or any other part used in a mechanism, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to continue. They include some spare pieces, which I ended up needing so that's a plus.For the most part I am happy with my product. I wish they had included wax or some other lubricant (like graphite) but I had to improvise and used lip balm... We'll see if that actually holds up at all. That being said, I think I the cutting alignment might have been off for my unit, because the lid mechanism doesn't line up flush with the rest of the box and I couldn't make it happen no matter how hard I tried. This also means the key doesn't rest in the lid mechanism like it's supposed to, so the trick is more or less given away if you look carefully. Also, I'm not sure if this was by design or not, but the gears that are part of the lid lift assembly don't meet up on all sides, which makes the gear train a bit unsteady. I've included a few photos to show you what I mean.All in all, I actually had a lot of fun building this despite the frustration of parts not lining up the way they were supposed to. I am going to purchase a few more kits from this company and see if my luck is any better.

..sure there are others who make wood 3-d models,but Ugears add the element of gears.Steampunk,functionality and beauty in one package.Engineering fun at the highest level of creativity...

I love these type of puzzle models this was my second one and it went together perfect - these are addicting - you really have to take your time and enjoy what you're doing there are plenty of ways for these to go wrong and only one way for them to go right and they are not easy to disassemble to go back and fix something without breaking it - I also like that this one didnt have any string involved the last one I put together had string involved and it kind of ruined the experience by being too frustrating - also slight sanding or cutting off of any burrs and waxing the gears really helps but isnt absolutely necessary - I cant wait to make another

This is my second UGEARS puzzle and it came out perfect. Patience is key, read instructions carefully and use plenty of wax on the gears and any moving surface. Parts do fit kind of tight but they are made that way. If you sand them to make them fit easier the puzzle will not come out right. When assembling parts take your time and push them in slowly while holding the back of the board or box.

My father in law is in a nursing home and misses his wood shop he had at home to work on small projects. We found these are a very nice alternative for him to have in the care center and the creative outlet he was missing. He’s put together almost every model they sell and it’s a nice thing to occupy his time.

Al contrario de lo que pensé la caja se siente de calidad (es firme y pesa),antes de ensamblar cualquier engrane deve ser previamente encerado para su mejor funcionamiento(cera no incluida),honestamente el detalle de la llave y que tenga candado le dio un acabado que me dejo imprecionada,si eres esa clase de persona que les gustan los mecanismos de engranajes definitivamente esto es para ti,si será un regalo sólo toma en cuenta que parte de la belleza del producto es su complejidad.